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Yuki's scenes were just too hillarious. The way she blocked only the balls flying to her but not reacting otherwise, the last throw of the game which seriously scared the other team's runner and left even Haruhi speechless was another funny moment. The way they rigged the game was funny as hell. Lucky for the other team that it turned out like that in the end. And seeing Haruhi like that in the end was truly nice. :)

But my favourite scene was without a question:

Though the slide of the baseball-team had me down as well:

Next week going back to the beginning again. Hopefully they won't switch that way every other week. Could wear out the effect...

I've got also to mention the music, it offered quite some variety this time compared to the earlier episodes. The track played during Kyon's and Itsuki's conversation was quite fitting and sent shivers down my spine. That techno track afterwards when Yuki influenced the game was another outstanding track. Same for the one which came up when Kyon started pitching. Now I need to get my hands on the OST even more. :)

I personally didn't think that the jump to the future was all that bad, especially since this episode had me laughing the entire way through. I agree with Keitarou that the best scene was where Haruhi bites Mikuru's ear lol.

And the beat goes on. I knew we had a classic as soon as I saw Mikuru's ear...

Spoiler:

...in Haruhi's mouth. What will they think of next, lol. Mikuru serving tea in a naasu costume...and in a meido costume. Cue the stampede of otaku.

Other bits I loved: Haruhi's sunny enthusiasm when she announced that they were going to take part in the competition. And Kyon's resigned disgust. Mikuru flushing and fainting with Haruhi's mouth on her ear. The sound when Haruhi dropped Mikuru on the floor. Yuki in the field catching everything that actually hit her and nothing else. Yuki's amazing and wonderful gait rounding the bases. And especially Haruhi's smile to Kyon near the end: being on the receiving end of that would make all the pain worthwhile.

The only thing I didn't like was seeing Haruhi slide into third (?) base with bare legs. Ouch. And actually, Haruhi's signs from third didn't work for me: her arms seemed too long.

The popularity of the show was demonstrated by the fact that this was as fast as I've ever seen a raw appear in Japanese cyberspace, and as fast as one has ever downloaded for me.

Noticed again: the animators are just great at doing hands, especially Haruhi's.

I have never laughed so much in front of an episode. This definitely doesn't stop to surprise...

Spoiler:

Just WHAT was up with Haruhi's random moving when it was Mikuru who had the bat at one point (and Itsuki was explaining *something* to Kyon)? All I know is that I couldn't stop laughing at it the whole time she did that.

The big jump into the future wasn't really disturbing, the humor definitely made up for it, plus it's not like we hadn't already been introduced to Itsuki and the other characters.

The slight disappointment from last week is gone, and I am so giving this a perfect 10.

I loved this episode. Since it's still early after the episode aired, here are some thoughts in spoiler tags.

Spoiler:

It has everything I could wish for. Nice animation, fun character interaction, some juicy plot bits and some fanservice for good measure. One of the things that stuck out in this episode is the good soundtrack this series has and how well it enhances each scene. Incidently, it also shows Kyoto Animation knows their anime classics. One of my favourite scenes was when Kyon started to pitch in the latter half of the episode. The background music that played during that part should be easily recognized by anyone who has seen the anime adaption of Adachi Mitsuru's baseball/romance classic "Touch" (If you don't know what I'm talking about, go watch it, it's very good and completely fansubbed). Another great piece of BGM was the track used during Kyon's and Itsuki's dialogue when they discussed the emergency situation, which resembled a gregorian chant and nicely created an ominous atmosphere. On the moe side of things, gotta love Mikuru's ear nibbling scene. Operation cheerleading and Haruhi's smile at the end weren't bad either.

I wasn't sure how well this episode's jump ahead in events would work when I first heard about it last week, but it worked well for me, even without having read the novels beforehand. The episode is fun and even though not all characters and mysteries have been established yet, it more than well enough made me want to keep following the series to see how everything will fit in. 10/10 from me.

Very good episode.
Thought it was much better than the last.
Although it did leave me confused in some parts (probably would be better if I could understand more).
Glad it's gonna get back on track next episode for us that haven't read the novels.

Yuki's scenes were just too hillarious. The way she blocked only the balls flying to her but not reacting otherwise, the last throw of the game which seriously scared the other team's runner and left even Haruhi speechless was another funny moment. The way they rigged the game was funny as hell. Lucky for the other team that it turned out like that in the end. And seeing Haruhi like that in the end was truly nice.

So is really IS episode 7, they didn't try to modify the story to fit it into the timeline continuing after episode 3 (Yuutsu II), but played out the story as it is: happening after the entire Yuutsu volume.

I see what Kyoani is trying to do here now, they're basically doing the same thing Tanigawa Nagaru-san is doing with the novels: the chapters (episode) aren't presented linearly, rather, they're shuffled up and played out "randomly". The Lockdown Dimension incidents
and this
all happened during Yuutsu, (timeline wise) before this baseball competition. But episode wise, they're still to come...

Hmm, a way to stir up interest in the first-time watchers by enshrouding them with unknowns first? Wow... nicely done Kyoani...

And something that probably only novel-readers would notice: Nagato's glasses are gone. kawaii~ ^^

Sugita-san's "ちっがーう!!" in the preview there, awesome. And Mikuru's ero photography session... Let's just say this place is going to get messy next week. ^^;

Lmao. This episode is incredable. The OST for Haruhi's going to be an interesting buy (the last time I fell in love with OST's with Escaflowne). I agree wholeheartedly about the comment on the Gregorian Chant and the subtle references made by KyoAni here and there. The cinematic is also nothing to scoff at... omnious air is starting to cloud about the series as it should.

The fact that the board game's actually a baseball themed one adds to the irony.

Mikuru's probabilly won the heart of a million otakus worldwide by now... and Haruhi's reputation as a tyrant now goes undisputed. Kyon is as sour as a middle-aged salaryman and is only getting better.

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It would be enough for the depressing things in life to only exist in reality.
It is because that I think the birth of a story... is from people dreaming of a happy ending. ~Misaka Shiori